The Next Web: 8 myths about new domain names

Choosing a domain is hard. For most new companies, it comes with the difficult branding decision of naming your company. And while many pundits insist that your company’s name doesn’t matter, it may, and the finality of choosing a domain makes the decision a difficult one.

Part of choosing a domain is deciding which gTLD, or ‘generic top-level domain’, to use. And while gTLD sounds like a scary term with lots of SEO ramifications that us average Joes can’t possibly understand, it’s actually quite simple to explain.

TLDs are basically the suffixes to our site; ‘.com’, ‘.edu’, ‘.gov’, ‘co.uk’, ‘.store’, or even ‘.sexy’ are all TLDs. gTLDs are the generic domains that anyone can use if available, while the other TLDs- ccTLDs, sTLDs – are restricted to domains registered to specific countries or organizations.

In the past, the options were limited and the decision was relatively simple. But in recent years, prices for ‘.com’ are rising and more and more gTLDs are being opened (1090 as part of ICANNs new gTLD program). So the decision of which gTLD to choose has become increasingly difficult.

Google’s hidden SEO system, along with myths propagated by owners of new gTLDs and the old gTLDs, make it even harder to know what to do.

But have no fear, this list is here to debunk all of the major myths about gTLDs: